Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1887-09-30

During u portion OF the glacial periou,
| the land was covered, or nearly so. by
the sea, and afterwards united by the
continent, chiefly by a plain OF bowlder
clay. Through this plain Prof Ram
sew thinks the Rhine wandered to its
mouth in the north part of the North
| sea; while the Thames. the Tyne, the
| rivers of the Wash and Humber. and
| p ,ssibly some Scottish rivers, were its
| tributaries. Thus the solid lands and
| the constant rivers aio shown to be
mere passing phases in an ever-chang-
ing picture.
| The political geography of Europe
has undergone great changes in his
toric times; geology tells of extensive
| physical changes in the more distant
past. Tho outlines of q physical geog-
rsphy very different from that of to-day
| have been sketched out for us in the
caves and on the rocks. Biologists
have transferred the sketch to paper
in the ordinary style of map-drawng
Here is an outline of it: The Bristol
channel is fertile valley. where the
horse, bison, elk mammoth and rhi-
noceros browse on the rich heritage.
Lions, wolves and other beasts of prey
pursue and devour them, where now
| the salt waves roll. The British Isles
| are united to the continent, and the
Rhine flows along a great valley,
now the North sea. and is
| Joined by its tributaries. the Elbe,
Thames. etc. Extensive valleys occupy
the sites Of the English and st. Georges
channels, where the herbivora Craze,
and are pursued by their carnivorous
contemporaries. Spain, and Italy with
Sicily, being respectively joined to
Africa, divide the Mediterranean into
two large lakes; Corsica and Sardinia
united form great promontory,
stretching out into the most western of
these. Across these connecting areas
the animals of Africa-the lion. spotted
hyena, Kafir cat. serval, antelope and
African elephant-pass into Europe.
After long ages their remains are found
in the caves, to testify of this former
state of things Geology receives
aid from every other science,
and in return throws back light upon
each. Meteorology. or the science of
|
largely depends; it furnishes the key
note for the resolution of many geologic
al problems. In return. geology has
enriched it with many interesting facts
with regard to the weather of the ages
that are gone. Rain-prints and ripple
: marks on slabs of sandstone or shale
tell us that the rain fell. and that the
: wind ruffied the surface of the water.
J Rounded fragments and striated peb-
. bles tell us of rivers rolling along their
, gravel, and glaciers moving down the
J valleys. Such evidence is SO common
: and we'll known, that it ceases to
surprise us. When. however, we
hear that there is good
geological evidence to show
that in times 50 remote as the Silurian
the prevailing winds in this region
were westerly. as they are to-day. oul
9 wonder can no longer be restrained
/ Evidence of the prevailing westerl,
winds in the present is seen in the one
! sided growth of trees towards the cas-
: in exposed situations. The growth o
:, large towns towards the west, to avoi,
] the smoke from the manufacturing
r quarters, is another proof And wha
y is the witness OF the rocks to simila
! prevalence in the past ? Long ago
9 when the rocks which we cal
S:lurian were being laid down
S Wales was ceSter of volcani
4 activity. Mount Snowdon is formed o
: the products of the volcanoes of tn
i period, interstr2tifed with contempt
Q raneous sedimentary rocks. The root
n of some of these old volcanoes hav
>: been found and examined. The ash
If beds around them thin out very rapid
= toward the west. while to the east an
e north they are much thicker. Towar
y the east they thicken for space, an
.. then thin out. 1t is evident that tn
d greater part of the lighter volcani
d products fell to the cast of the noun
lie aims. The natural explanation i
). that the wind blew more strongly al
Id frequently from the west and southwe'
" than from other quarters.
" Geology teaches us that counties
a Forms of life have passed away, as fl
l. as we can tell, forever:
lg From scarped cliff and quarried stone,
m She cries, thousand types are gone.
Id Species and genera which once had
Sc local habitation on earth have disa
T. peared from the stage, and have no
only a name; and not only species al
al genera but whole orders have gon
I'd leaving only their epitaphs on Il
so grayestones which mark their last res
Nv ing-places. And yet. side by side wi
Id this, we are brought face to face wi
or the remarkable constancy of OF
in er species. In the Siluri;
ia rocks. which occupy the lowe
en- place but two (Cambrian and Laure
AS tian) in the geological chronology, y
fc are taught mat ''remalns OF III, al
III nifera. some of them apparently ide
,p teal with existing forms, have been {
in tected in various places" And in I
ne Cretaceous rocks some of the forar
l. nifera are the same as those n,
he dredged up from the bottom of I
,.a ocean.
N As we ascend the scale of time. lie;
in ing behind us the shadowy realms
es the far past, and come TO the most
ed cent rocks, we find the labors of I
ed geoloyist mingled with those of I
rd arohaologist and historian. In tn